Chapter 10

                                                                          Gerda

It was a bit different to pilot the shuttle than I'd thought, but I told myself it was nothing more than a newer model that I wasn’t used to. It handled pretty well, but feeling that I had spent all my pilot’s luck during our escape, I let the autopilot take over and manage our flight.

“Wow, it’s beautiful," Kaya whispered, looking through the window at the blue orb slowly appearing below us.

“Yeah”

I guess it was. It was probably just me who, for most of the time, had a head full of more important issues to care about than how something looked. But now, with Kaya sitting on the seat next to me, maybe the shimmering blue orb floating in the dark vastness of space actually looked kinda cool. I probably just caught some of her enthusiasm…

Slowly, I relaxed and started to enjoy the flight. Maybe, if everything somehow sorted itself out, I could consider becoming a pilot. I would probably never have the money to obtain an interstellar licence, but flying something like this in a busy system… My D-4 licence from the Youth Explorers already gave me an advantage, and it wouldn’t take that much time and money to turn it into a C.

I smiled and stretched in the seat.

“C-can you show me how it works?”, Kaya suddenly asked.

I was a bit surprised by her request, but why not? Not that I could teach her how to fly it, but in the few hours we had until we landed, I could show her how to program the autopilot so she could pilot the shuttle by herself when I was gone.

                                                                    Kaya

Finding where we had arrived so quickly had boosted my confidence like nothing before. I knew it was just a small thing, but for me it felt huge. For the first time, I could contribute to the team rather than feel like fragile luggage that people needed to treat with extra care, so I wanted to see if I could also learn to fly the shuttle.

It was nice that Gerda was willing to show me. Most people were really apprehensive about showing me anything they considered too difficult for me to handle. It was so frustrating. How would they know what I could and couldn’t do if they didn’t allow me to try anything in the first place?

I loved how kind and patient she was when she moved closer and started to show me how to set the course. It didn’t seem that difficult, at least until she leaned closer and guided my hand with hers, showing me the launch sequence. But I knew she didn’t make it difficult on purpose, and despite my difficulties concentrating on her instructions, we were getting so close to Agartha that I was sure I could initiate takeoff by myself, so I didn’t mind those distractions that much.

She checked my seatbelt and returned to her seat to prepare for atmospheric entry. I’d thought we’d do a smooth landing when the shuttle suddenly began to twist and turn. My mind froze, not knowing what was worse, seeing or not seeing what was happening, and I couldn’t decide if I should close my eyes or not until it was too late, and I couldn’t imagine not looking at the ground rushing rapidly towards us.

“Do you like it?” she asked, but I could neither answer, my body frozen with fear, nor decide how I felt about it, so I just smiled, trying to decide whether the overwhelm I felt felt good, bad, or maybe both at the same time.

                                                                      Gerda

We landed without any issues, and I was relieved that she seemed okay. I’d chosen the autopilot’s adventure mode, not fully sure what it would do, but I wanted her first vacation to be the best she could have. But somewhere in the middle of our descent, I wondered if I had made the right decision.

I remembered how our takeoff back then had really shaken her, so it would suck if I were to cause something similar again, but to my relief, she was smiling when I looked at her, so I assumed she liked it in the end.

I got up and stretched, waiting for her to unlock her belt.

“Are you ready for another adventure?”

She looked at me for a few moments and then smiled, so I took it as a yes and turned to walk to the side door when she clung to me. I looked at her, surprised. Wasn't a smile supposed to mean everything was okay? So far, that’s how I’d interpreted it, but now I was confused.

“What happened?”

“S-stay a bit..."

"Sure…"

She moved closer, but I didn't really mind it. If that’s what she, for some weird reason, needed, there was no harm in doing it, I guess.

Hesitantly, I put my arms around her, trying not to think about the random scenarios that suddenly popped into my head. I guess doing something for the first time always felt a bit weird, and your mind, not sure where it may lead due to the lack of any prior experience, just made up stuff, but it didn’t necessarily mean it would happen.

It was just like flying. My mind always imagined what would happen when I attempted to land on my own for the first time, but I was still here, so obviously, nothing that my mind had predicted actually happened. It would probably be the same in this case. Although, at worst, if those weird scenarios actually happened, I wouldn't mind them that much…